Loading and discharging installation for oil-tankers



y 1, 1952 c. VlLAlN 3,032,082

LOADING AND DISCHARGING INSTALLATION FOR OIL-TANKERS Filed Jan. 15, 19602 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1, 1962 c. VILAIN 3,032,082

LOADING AND DISCHARGING INSTALLATION FOR OIL-TANKERS Filed Jan. 15, 19602 Sheets-Sheet 2 2/ 37 Ja -i I 22 14 l3 5 6 tma United States Patent()fiice 3,032,082 Patented May 1, 1962 3,032,082 LOADING AND DISCHARGINGINSTALLATION FOR OIL-TANKERS Charles Vilain, Rte. de Marseille, Bouchesdu Rhone, Martigues, France Filed Jan. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 2,631 Claimspriority, application France Oct. 14, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 141-388) Thedischarging or loading of oil-tankers is generally carried out with theaid of flexible conduits aflixed to the wharf. These conduits aresubjected to a multiplicity of force-resultants as a consequence of themovements performed in the horizontal and in the vertical plane on thewater by the moored vessels.

The fact is that as the discharging and loading operations proceed, thetanker either rises or falls by several metres with respect of thenormal level. Furthermore, a certain amount of drift occurs, whateverthe nature of the mooring, and in order to ensure that they are notwrenched away these conduits, which sometimes weigh more than a ton,must be capable of following these dis placements without the necessityfor any interruption in the pumping-operation.

The object of the invention is to provide a gantry for the handling offlexible conduits for the loading and discharging of oil-tankers,enabling the conduit to be placed in position and to move in a properlybalanced and compensated manner in accordance with any variations inlevel or in distance liable to occur in the course of the operation.

According to the present invention, a quay-side loading and discharginginstallation for oil-tankers comprises a gantry, said gantry including asuperstructure having track means extending outwardly with respect tothe quay, a carriage movable on said track means inwardly and outwardlywith respect to the quay, a conduit coupled at one end to aliquid-handling installation on the quay and adapted to be coupled atits other end to the oil-tanker to be serviced, a counterweight for theconduit, and cable means connected at one end to a fixed point of thegantry, passed about first pulley means on the carriage, then aboutpulley means on an intermediate part of the conduit, then about secondpulley means on the carriage, then about pulley means on the gantry toterminate at its other end at the counterweight, whereby movement of thecarriage permits lateral movement of the intermediately supported partof the conduit.

In the accompanying drawings, which show by way of example, without anylimitative eflect, one of the ways in which the device to which theinvention relates can be constructed:

FIGURE 1 shows the compensating and equilibrating device for theconduit; FIG. 2 shows how the flexible conduit is handled when beingplaced in position.

The gantry, supporting a number of flexible conduits, (only one of whichis shown) consists of uprights 1 and a superstnicture 2 with track meansin the form of rails 3, and the carriage or trolley 4, bearing thepulleys 5 and 6, moves over the said rails 3.

The conduit consists of flexible sectors 7 and 8, the sector 7 beingcoupled to a liquid-handling installation 7:: on the quay, and connectedtogether by a rigid pipe 9, which has pulleys 11 and 12 mountedintegrally thereon. These pulleys engage a cable 13 which is aflixed atpoint 14 at the outer end of the superstructure. The cable 13 alsopasses over pulleys 5, 6 and 11, 12, and is supported by a return-pulley14a at the inner end of the superstructure, so that the side marked 15is connected to the compensating counterweight 16.

The cable supporting the counterweight 16 passes over thecontrol-Windlass 17, which is disengaged after the conduit has beenplaced in position.

As shown in FIG. 2, there can be provided, on the top of the gantry 2, agin 18 with a Windlass 19 which controls the cable-sectors 20 and 21,which pass over the tailsheave 22.

When the flexible conduit is in its position of rest, i.e. with theouter end thereof disengaged from a vessel and held in stowed positionjust beneath the rails 3, use is made of the gin 18, and the loop 20 and21 of the cable is affixed to a pulley 22 on the same level as themanifold of the oil-tanker. The Windlass 19 is set in operation, and theconduit is drawn out to its point of connection.

Vertical guiding of the conduit is also eflected by means of theWindlass 19.

This handling-operation is facilitated by the movement of the trolley 4and of the rigid element 9.

' Once the flexible conduit has been stabilised, the gin 18 is put outof operation, and the cable is immobilised at the fixed point 14.

At this moment, the entire installation is in equilibrium, owing to theaction of the counterweight 16, and the Windlass 17 is disengaged.

The flexible conduit, raised by the trolley 4, thus fol lows theascending or descending movement of the oiltanker 23 automatically. Ifthe latter is being discharged the conduit will at first be in theposition shown in FIG. 1; as the discharging-operation proceeds, theship 23 rises in the water the entire system reaching the upper positionas shown in FIG. 2.

These operations necessitate no labour, and render it possible, byequilibration, to bring about variations in height amounting to morethan 15 metres, as well as horizontal movements likewise representingthe maximum drift which may occur.

This result is achieved by the arrangement of the rigid element 9between the two flexible elements and by the connection of thetravelling pulleys 11 and 12 with the moving trolley, the latter itselfbeing connected to the compensation counterweight, which ensures theeven and balanced travel of the entire system, by simple and robustdevices which cannot get out of order.

This method of positioning the conduit, as shown in FIG. 2, andautomatic regulation, as shown in FIG. 1, enable oil-tankers to beloaded and unloaded without any supervision and in the minimum of time,which considerably reduces the time for which the vessels have to beimmobilised and protects all the accessories and devices used fortransvasation.

I claim:

1. A quay-side loading and discharging installation for oil-tankerscomprising a gantry having pulley means thereon, said gantry including asuperstructure having track means extending outwardly with respect tothe quay, a carriage having first and second pulley means and beingmovable on said track means inwardly and outwardly with respect to thequay, a conduit having intermediate pulley means, coupled at one end toa liquid-handling installation on the quay and adapted to be coupled atits other end to the oil-tanker to be serviced, a counterweight for theconduit, and cable means connected at one end to a fixed point of thegantry, passed about said first pulley means on the carriage, then aboutsaid intermediate pulley means on an intermediate part of the conduit,then about said second pulley means on the carriage, then about saidpulley means on the gantry to terminate at its other end at thecounterweight, whereby movement of the carriage permits lateral movementof the intermediately supported part of the conduit.

2. A quay-side loading and discharging installation for oil-tankerscomprising a gantry having pulley means thereon, said gantry including asuperstructure having track means extending outwardly with respect tothe quay, a carriage having first and second pulley means, and beingmovable on said track means inwardly and outwardly with respect to thequay, a conduit including a first flexible section coupled at one end toa liquid-handling installation on the quay and coupled at its other endto a rigid section, said rigid section having pulley means thereon, anda second flexible section connected at one end to said rigid section andadapted to be coupled at its other end to the oil-tanker to be serviced,a counterweight for the conduit, and cable means connected at one end toa fixed point of the gantry, passed about said first pulley means on thecarriage, then about said pulley means on the rigid section of theconduit, then about said second pulley means on the carriage, then aboutsaid pulley means on the gantry to terminate at its other end at thecounterweight, whereby movement of the carriage permits lateral movementof the rigid section of the conduit.

3. A quay-side loading and discharging installation for oil-tankers,comprising a gantry having first and second pulley means, said gantryincluding a superstructure having track means extending outwardly withrespect to the quay, a carriage having first and second pulley means,and being movable on said track means inwardly and outwardly withrespect to the quay, a conduit including a first flexible sectioncoupled at one end to a liquidhandling installation on the quay andcoupled at its other end to a rigid section, and a second flexiblesection having pulley means at the free end thereof connected at one endto said rigid section and adapted to be coupled at its other end to theoil-tanker to be serviced, a counterweight for the conduit, pulley meansattachable to a fixed point on the tanker, a Windlass and a gin on thegantry, said gin having first and second pulley means thereon, and cablemeans connected at one end to said Windlass at a fixed point of thegantry and being passed about said first pulley means on said gin, aboutsaid pulley means attachable to a fixed point on the tanker, about saidpulley means on the free end of said second flexible section of theconduit, then about said second pulley means on the gin, about saidfirst pulley means on the gantry, about said first pulley means on thecarriage, then about said pulley means on the rigid section of theconduit, about said second pulley means on the carriage, then about saidsecond pulley means on the gantry to terminate at its other end at thecounterweight, whereby movement of the carriage permits lateral movementof the rigid section of the conduit and operation of the Windlassenables the free end of the second flexible section of the conduit to bedrawn to the oil-tanker for coupling thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,680,831 White Aug. 14, 1928 1,911,579 McNeil May 30, 1933 2,719,653Bledsoe Oct. 4, 5 2,790,217 Vossbrinck Oct. 11, 1955 2,914,080 SilvestonNov. 24, 1959 2,922,446 Sheiry Jan. 26, 1960

